BOSTON – He was 15 seconds into the fight, and Urijah Faber had already been thrown and mounted by Yuri Alcantara. An inauspicious start, perhaps, but definitely not the end.

Not for Faber, who quickly bounced back and spent the next two and a half rounds putting a beating on Alcantara en route to a unanimous decision victory (30-26, 30-26, 30-27).

The bantamweight bout took place today at UFC Fight Night 26 at Boston’s TD Garden. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and Facebook.

After his aggression got him into early trouble, Faber had to use his wrestling and his top pressure to battle his way back into the fight. He put Alcantara on his back and kept him there for almost all of the second and third rounds, battering him with elbows from the top as he wedged Alcantara’s head against the fence.

After the bout, Faber said he initially feared that Alcantara’s early attack might have broken his jaw, saying he “definitely felt a sense of urgency” at that point.

“The beginning of the fight was pretty intense and he was catching me with some really big punches,” Faber said. “In my corner between rounds, my jaw was hurting and it pissed me off. I must’ve made some sort of mistake or slipped, and he ended up in a great position pretty quickly. Lots of respect for Yuri – he’s a tough guy and it was a great fight. I’m going to relax with my family for a couple weeks and live the good life in Sacramento, then it’s back to work preparing for whoever is next.”

With the loss, Alcantara (28-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) drops his first fight in the UFC since a unanimous decision defeat against Hacran Dias. Faber (29-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) has now won three straight, with his last loss coming in the interim bantamweight title bout against Renan Barao.

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